Fashion an endless study for Venexiana’s Kati Stern

Each season, Venexiana head designer Kati Stern unveils a dizzying 70 outfits on the catwalk.

But if she had her way, her fashion shows in New York would go on for hours.

“It’s not enough,” Stern told Meniscus Magazine before her Fall 2012 show. “I could sit and design endlessly. Once I find the right fabric, the right color…I can go on and on and on.”

Stern’s trademark kaleidoscope of texture and tone was once again on display at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents, where her atypical parade of evening gowns always manages to contain numerous elements of surprise. With fabrics such as taffeta, silk tweed and velvet sourced from Italy and France, Stern once again pushed the envelope when it comes to her tongue-in-cheek eveningwear, even incorporating a sequined serpent as a shoulder strap that drizzled down the front of a dark green number.

Stern said that the inspiration for this season was the Italian renaissance, in particular “Paolo Veronese, the 16th-century painter, whom I consider to be one of the greatest [representatives] of fabric.” It is not an unexpected choice considering that the Hungarian-born designer, who trained and worked as an architect, calls the city of Venice home.

“There is a big parallel,” Stern said when comparing her work in architecture to fashion. “It’s space. I enjoy space. To me, that translates into a form. So, designing clothes and designing houses is a very parallel thing to do.”

“I still enjoy architecture, but honestly, fashion has definitely taken over,” Stern added with a laugh.